[REVIEW] 40518 High-Speed Train

[JackJonespaw]

- A Review -

Is there anything better than a train? Before planes, before cars, when humans finally realized that horses were not the ultimate transportive machine, they put together a train.

What I love about trains is the binary manner in which they operate. A train is either on the track, or useless. It’s either blasting across the country side, or as peaceful statue in a trainyard. There’s no off-roading with a train. There’s no big “train” culture, where people soup their trains up and show them off on Facebook. Trains, for the most part, are serviceable machines that only exist to move one thing to another. You can dress up a train as nicely as you want, but at the end of the day, even a subway uses people as cargo.

So when LEGO gave me the opportunity to review their new High-Speed Train model, I couldn’t refuse. Because if I can’t sell you on a train, who can? @JopieK? Probably.

There isn’t too much to this train, so this will be a shorter review. I know some of you readers only like my review for my glossy mid-build pictures, but I’m afraid those will have to be left off of this one. 

Let’s get some things straight first:

SET NAME: HIGH-SPEED TRAIN

SET NUMBER: 40518

PIECES: 284

PRICE: $19.99

THEME: CREATOR

This is genuinely the first LEGO Creator set I’ve had since 2004’s Building Bonanza. So I don’t really know too much about the theme. Is there some kind of canon? Are these sets an anthology? You have to understand, I mainly review licensed sets. If I don’t see ™ after minifig names, I start to get nervous.

The box is pretty slick. No crazy explosions on the box, just a train peacefully moving through the countryside. The back is the same image, but from a slightly different angle. I guess showing off the back of the train isn’t the sexiest framing. The whole box is wrapped in this cheerful yellow. 

Also, if you have two of these bad boys, you can combine them to make a sort of super train. In theory, if you have 100 of these bad boys, you can also combine them to make a sort of super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super super train.

These are the bags. There are four of them. No numbers on these, just rip ‘em all open and start building. A sticker sheet is also THROWN in, and, to work on my rhyming, I’ll tell you how it got BLOWN away by the wind. That’s not a joke. It’s really gone. I took this pictures, and now the sticker sheet is in God’s hands.

As is common with a lot of these LEGO sets nowadays, an instruction manual is included. I noticed something new here, though. At the bottom of the manual is a little progress bar with a blue LEGO stud that moves forward as you get closer to completing the set. Now, the crazy thing is, there’s already a system in place for this kind of stuff and we’ve been using it for centuries. You might have heard of it, it’s called page numbers.

After a pretty short build process, you get this. It’s a simple model, and doesn’t have a ton of difficult building mechanics. As, I imagine, with most Creator sets, what you see is what you get. There are no hidden mechanics, no play features, not even an interior on this train. It’s something to be built and displayed for adults, or played with (I guess?) with for kids. In my opinion, this train is great for adding pieces to your collection. There’s a lot of foundational pieces that you never really get enough of in more complicated sets, like 1x2 bricks or cheese slopes. 

There really isn’t too much I can say about this model. Like I said, if you can see it, you get the picture. The price point might be a bit much for what you get, especially with no license attached, but that’s something we LEGO fans have learned to expect. I do think this set is sort of purposeless. Like, without a town to put this train in, it's just by itself. And a lack of play features indicated kids won't love it. It's pretty cheap overall, so maybe it's a good Christmas present for a train enthusiast.

Still, despite a lack of purpose, I can’t think of anything problematic about this set, so straight to a 10/10 for this one. Now get out there and go tell a train that you love it today!

[Darkdragon]

I find this set very adorable. Do you have any narrow gauge track to try it on, to see if it fits?

[Jack Sassy]

A fine review. I never thought of building a Lego set on train tracks, quite an innovative idea, so to say. 

 

I suppose this is the long-awaited 2022 train set, now we must wait for cargo train. 

[Exetrius]

Fun read and original backdrop!  

[JopieK]

Nice review @JackJonespaw! I didn't see this set coming. 20 bucks seems very reasonable. Now we need to wait for someone to up-scale the set to at least 6 wide and put a motor in it, but that won't take long I presume.

[mostlytechnic]

Sad that you had to mention that instructions are included - I know it was a joke, but the Mario sets (for example) do not include printed instructions because you need the app. Argh.

I like the white ingots as doors, but I think they'd look better recessed instead of sticking out. 

Overall, a decent looking train, but it suffers a little for being so small (and therefore hard to do details). But I agree, I don't see the point. It's not train scale, so won't go on tracks. There's no alternate builds - Creator sets like this are usually 3-in-1 models with alternates. And really oddly, on Lego shop, this is listed as Creator Expert, not just Creator. All that combined to me says that this was probably originally intended as a gift with purchase set (such as with a big, actual Creator Expert train set purchase or something) but that set got delayed and so they went ahead and released this as a buyable set. 

[Holodoc]

Nice review!

What I would like to see is

a) the train 2x, like suggested on the box, to show a 'proper' train with 2 ends.
b) the train on straight (because there are no curves in that size...) tracks. (and maybe some green/stones underneath the tracks)

 

EDIT: I see Darkdragon mentioned the black narrow gauge tracks - I believe that would work, too!

 

[JackJonespaw]

5 hours ago, Holodoc said:

a) the train 2x, like suggested on the box, to show a 'proper' train with 2 ends.
b) the train on straight (because there are no curves in that size...) tracks. (and maybe some green/stones underneath the tracks)

Me too.  I don't have either of them, though.

[JopieK]

15 hours ago, mostlytechnic said:

Sad that you had to mention that instructions are included - I know it was a joke, but the Mario sets (for example) do not include printed instructions because you need the app. Argh.

I like the white ingots as doors, but I think they'd look better recessed instead of sticking out. 

Overall, a decent looking train, but it suffers a little for being so small (and therefore hard to do details). But I agree, I don't see the point. It's not train scale, so won't go on tracks. There's no alternate builds - Creator sets like this are usually 3-in-1 models with alternates. And really oddly, on Lego shop, this is listed as Creator Expert, not just Creator. All that combined to me says that this was probably originally intended as a gift with purchase set (such as with a big, actual Creator Expert train set purchase or something) but that set got delayed and so they went ahead and released this as a buyable set. 

Interesting idea. Most of the time trains come out in summer though. There were wild rumors about a new Creator Expert train and since the Crocodile is not available anymore it would make at least some sense.

[TeriXeri]

It's interesting that there are more references to City and Heartlake City being connected (and with LEGO movie 2 minidolls/minifig in the same set) , also happened with recent airport sets, and there's a HLC letter tile in a 2022 Space set.

A City train is likely still coming as well, as brickset briefly showed August 2022 as the retirement date for the current 2018 trains, so it'll probably be a june-august release for something new in City.

20 hours ago, mostlytechnic said:

There's no alternate builds - Creator sets like this are usually 3-in-1 models with alternates. 

2021 introduced the Creator Taxi and Tuktuk sets that weren't 3-in-1 or GWP with similar set numbers , so it's probably part of that "series" of generic non minifig scale models, the box uses a similar design, and 2x €10 set , and now 1x €20 set instead, with a similar combined piece count.

Edited December 8, 2021 by TeriXeri

[dr_spock]

It's a cute little set.  It kind of looks like a Chinese high speed train:

Regarding tracks, I don't have this set or the building instructions. This was built off the online box photos.  Please excuse the "farbseuche".  

I am guessing it should be fine displayed on straight tracks.

It doesn't appear that the bogies can pivot. I don't think it can fit the LEGO 4-wide curved tracks without modifications.

Having to buy two to make a train reminds me of the Creator Horizon Express train set.  CITY to HLC? Now if TLG would release a Friends train set. 

 

[zephyr1934]

On 12/6/2021 at 12:02 PM, JackJonespaw said:

 

You sir, are breaking all the rules

 

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Thanks for the review ...this train is amazing! 

[Sucram]

Your reviews continue to be the best on this site. I appreciated the scenery change, was very fitting. Now can someone review a landspeeder in the middle of a desert?

[koalayummies]

Fantastic review and photos. That's a fun little creator set. Now if only we can get the USA to build these things in real life and finally get with the program.